Written Answers Monday 3 January 2005

Scottish Executive

Birds

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it applies current legislation on the control of pigeons in urban environments.

Allan Wilson: It is the responsibility of Scotland's local authorities to monitor and control pigeons within their areas, and to take action where appropriate to address pigeon related problems.

  Local authorities have a statutory duty of pest control and there is nothing to prevent measures being taken by them where there is genuine evidence of pigeons presenting a threat to human health and safety. Ultimately, it is for local authorities to determine whether a genuine public health or safety risk exists and to take appropriate action within the context of current legislation. They can also take action, without restriction, to limit the amount of waste food and refuse found around the streets and public places of towns and cities if that is considered to be a cause of such problems.

  The Environmental Protection (Scotland) Act 1990 imposes a duty upon local authorities to address statutory nuisance issues.

Data Protection Act 1998

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences under the Data Protection Act 1998 have been processed through the courts since 2001.

Cathy Jamieson: No proceedings under the Data Protection Act 1998 were recorded for the year 2001. Data for the year 2002 are expected to be available in February.

Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the proposed 60% non-renewable energy will be produced beyond 2020.

Lewis Macdonald: The overall pattern of energy production beyond 2020 will depend on a number of factors, including variations in fuel prices, technological advances, increased energy efficiency, and the investment decisions by electricity generators active in the market.

Libraries

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to ensure that funding and policies are in place to ensure an increase in the purchase of books by public libraries and, in particular, the purchase of books reflecting the culture of Scotland.

Mr Frank McAveety: Statutory responsibility for local libraries lies with local authorities. Each local authority is responsible for determining the level of resources allocated for the library service which they provide for the residents of their area. This includes the purchasing of books.

Public Safety

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what requirements are incumbent upon local authorities to prepare emergency plans for incidents involving trains carrying nuclear materials.

Nicol Stephen: This is a reserved matter, covered by the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001. The carrier is required under Regulation 8 to prepare an emergency plan and consult on it with such local authorities, emergency services, health authorities and other persons/bodies/authorities as they think fit.

Regulation of Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are national targets for local authorities regarding the maximum period of time for which older people in hospital should wait (a) to be allocated a care manager and (b) for a care management assessment to be completed.

Mr Tom McCabe: There are no national targets for local authorities regarding the maximum period of time for which older people in hospital should wait to be allocated a care manager, or for a care manager assessment to be completed. We will, however, introduce from April 2004 a performance indicator on the time interval between the referral and the start of service delivery.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the working practices implemented by BEAR Scotland in connection with the winter maintenance rotas of trunk roads for which they are responsible and whether it has made any representations to the Health and Safety Executive about these matters.

Nicol Stephen: BEAR Scotland Ltd must comply with all legislation affecting their workforce, including winter rotas.

  The Scottish Executive takes health and safety issues very seriously and would immediately raise any alleged breach with BEAR and if necessary would not hesitate to raise issues with the Health and Safety Executive.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances have been notified to it of mature forests where timber cannot be harvested due to weight or other restrictions on public roads.

Allan Wilson: Polbae Road (U111) in Dumfries and Galloway, the B8035 on the Isle of Mull and the B840 in Argyll have weight restrictions that prevents the harvesting of mature timber. I am aware of a further 18 instances across Scotland where there are on-going discussions regarding timber extraction over minor public roads.

Student Loans

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4484 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 December 2003, what recent discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the threshold for the repayment of student loans and what its policy is in respect of the amount the threshold should be set at.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3279 on 11 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The income threshold is set at a level which maintains the affordability of student loans to both the lender and the borrower.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking regarding visitscotland.com advising potential customers that Edinburgh was full to capacity during the festival; whether it will seek compensation either for individual hoteliers and guest houses or the city as a whole, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is entirely an operational matter for visitscotland.com.

Waste Management

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that companies are informed of measures required to comply with directive 91/156/EEC, the European landfill directive.

Ross Finnie: The regulatory provisions of the directive 1999/31/EC (the landfill directive) have been transposed in Scotland through the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 11 April 2003. The Scottish Executive consulted three times between 1999 and 2002 on proposals for implementing the directive, and on each occasion the views of parties who would be affected by the legislation were sought.

  Advice to landfill operators on the requirements of the regulations is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. It is for operators to inform companies that deposit waste at landfill sites about the implications for their waste.

Waste Management

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of landfill sites will be full by 2010 and what alternative methods of disposal will be used once waste landfill sites are filled.

Ross Finnie: The National Waste Plan , published in February 2003, makes clear that, regardless of diversion targets, there will continue to be a need for landfill for the foreseeable future as part of a strategy for disposing of those wastes which are not recovered or recycled. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is currently undertaking an analysis of landfill capacity.

  The National Waste Plan also outlines the alternative methods of disposal which the Scottish Executive proposes. The plan is available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/environment/natwasteplan.pdf.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what environmental safeguards are in place in respect of the disposal of human sewage.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the criteria are for licensing operators involved in the disposal of human sewage.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it employs the precautionary principle with regard to the disposal of human sewage.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it employs the proximity principle with regard to the disposal of human sewage.

Ross Finnie: The form the regulatory regime takes depends on the activity being carried out. In the case of disposal of sewage sludge, spreading on agricultural land is governed by the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989, land reclamation or improvement by the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, and landfilling by the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003, all as amended. There are other regimes applying to discharge to water and to incineration. All these regimes have provisions to protect the environment, tailored to the kind of activity with which the regime is dealing. Similarly, the criteria for licensing operators depend on the applicable regulatory regime.

  Decisions about the appropriate regime to apply to any particular activity, and about any conditions to be fulfilled in respect of those regimes, are an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Waste Management

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken to assess the impact on human and animal health of the spreading of biosolid materials.

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken to assess the impact of spreading biosolid materials on watercourses.

Ross Finnie: In 1996 the Royal Commission on Environmental Protection published its report Sustainable Use of Soil  (Col. 1365), which included examination of the transmission of pathogens from sewage sludge, or biosolids. This was reviewed by the commission in March 2002, and the review is available at:

  http://www.rcep.org.uk/pdf/soil1rep.pdf.

  In 1998 the Environment Sub-Committee of the Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and the Regions published its Inquiry into Sewage Treatment and Disposal (Col. 4023). This is available at:

  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmenvtra/266ii/et0202.htm.

  Also in 1998, the UK Government commissioned the Water Research Centre (WRc) to review the scientific evidence underpinning controls on the agricultural use of sludge (DETR 4415/3 and DETR 4454/4). The results were published by the WRc as Review of the Scientific Evidence Relating to the Controls on the Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge (ISBN 1 898920 37 0).

  Finally, in the same year, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) published its Strategic Review of Organic Waste Spread on Land, which includes consideration of sewage sludge. The review is available on SEPA's website at:

  http://www.sepa.org.uk/publications/technical/organicwastespreadonland.pdf.